Citizens for Safe Water Metro Moncton

From here you can access Icon Links with the guidelines for prescribing oral fluoride supplements from the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) and the American Dental Association (ADA).

 

Relevant text has been highlighted. Also the table in the ADA file  &  Table II on page 7 in the CDA doc shows the amounts of oral fluoride supplements that dentists can prescribe for children per day.

As you can see dentists can not prescribe any amount of a fluoride supplement to babies 6 months or younger & a maximum of 0.25 mg of a fluoride supplement to babies between 6 months and 3 years.​

Remember that fluoridated water = 0.7ppm = 0.7mg / l = 0.23 mg fluoride in a regular glass of water (333 ml) which means that fluoridated water results in bottle fed babies, children & people of all ages ingesting amounts of fluoride that surpass the daily limits of fluoride supplements that Canadian & US  dentists can prescribe to people living in non-fluoridated areas.

Furthermore, as the CDA & ADA texts stipulate, before a US or Canadian dentist can prescribe fluoride supplements, the dentist must first:

• Assess their patients dental caries risks (diet, oral hygiene habits etc.)

• Ensure that their patient is consuming non fluoridated water with naturally low levels of fluoride

• Assess the patient’s overall daily exposure to fluoride from toothpaste, mouthwashes, foods & drinks.

Take home messages:

• When dentists or doctors endorse water fluoridation, they are encouraging a practice that results in children and adults receiving more daily fluoride than a dentist or doctor can prescribe in the form of oral fluoride supplements.
   

• Contrary to administering fluoride through public water, prescribing oral fluoride supplements requires:

  • Individual assessment of dental caries risk

  • Individual assessment of overall daily fluoride exposure levels

  • Dosage monitoring
    and

  • CONSENT
     

Final note:​ People who truly want to swallow more daily fluoride, can get a prescription & purchase a year's supply of fluoride supplements for $13.